This past Saturday marked the return of what has become an annual event, the TTC Knitalong in Toronto! We gather in various teams in different places throughout the city, everyone gets a chance to shop at a selection of yarn shops (which we are lucky to have many of in Toronto), and along the way we take public transit and knit. Then at the end of the day we collect as a group, think ambitious thoughts about our new purchases, draw a few prizes, and also end up with a small pile of money to give to charity (For five years in a row we have donated all proceeds to Sistering). This event started several years ago from more humble beginnings – just 3 teams, and a different yarn shop landscape than the present day – but has grown bigger every year while keeping the same goals in mind. Knit, travel through the city, buy some great yarn, and have a good time with other knitters! We had our biggest year ever this time.

We always wish we could fit the entire knitting population of the GTA with us, but fitting in 100 knitters plus team captains is pretty great!

We had a few new-to-the-Knitalong shops in the mix this year, including Creative Yarns in Scarborough, which was the starting point for my team! They were fabulous and got us off to a great start. From there we travelled by bus and subway to The Purple Purl, then by streetcar to Romni Wools, and a walk to Americo before our final destination at the Rivoli pub on Queen St. West. We used all forms of public transit including our own feet, and by the end of the day were very happy to have a cool drink and some seated knitting time! And of course, lovingly hold our new purchases.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the event this year, including all the Toronto yarn shops who were generous with their shopping discounts, prize sponsors (Patternfish, Westminster Fibers, Turtlepurl Yarns, Waterloo Wools, Tanis Fiber Arts, Indigodragonfly, Knitty.com, and more!), and of course all the delightful knitters making it a fun day.

If you missed us this year, I can highly recommend grabbing a few TTC day passes, a few knitting friends, and making your own fun day – maybe even with a pub or two in there, or a lovely dessert stop? The world of Toronto knitting is vast and there’s great yarny times to be had.

Here are a few snaps from my team – I’ll be back later on to show off some of my new purchases too!

26 responses to “Knitters in the city”

Looks like a great time, and such a worthy cause too. I want to know what the lady in the red shoes is making in the second-to-last photo, now that looks challenging!
I guess this is yet another reason to move to Canada…

Hi, our knitting group, Toronto Pints ‘n Purls, wanted to take part but alas, it was full. I think we’re going to do our own version just for fun. They do a ‘Yarn Crawl’ in NYC (not sure of its official name), where there are participating stores that anyone can visit anytime that particular day (no teams). Perhaps something like that could be incorporated so more people could take part. Great job! I’ll have to be more on the ball next year.